


stitch it together or tear it apart

by Godoflaundrybaskets (digiella)



Series: Red Vs. Blue Fusion [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Gen, Red Vs. Blue Fusion, no actual knowledge of RvB necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 18:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8633503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digiella/pseuds/Godoflaundrybaskets
Summary: Investigation wasn't Alphys' forte. She had a job and it wasn't hunting down two missing A.I. that probably weren't supposed to be talking to her in the first place. This was someone else's problem. It was! But Sans and Papyrus had never gone silent like this and she couldn't stop thinking about how it might be her fault.





	

**Author's Note:**

> As a note, this is kind of where I'm starting to take _a lot_ of liberties with both RvB canon and Undertale canon. :) Hope you still enjoy~

Alphys checked the time on her HUD. Fifteen more minutes till she needed to leave for the training room. She tapped impatiently on the edge of the soda can in her armored fist. She couldn't leave yet unless she wanted to stand awkwardly waiting for her assigned time. She couldn't start a game or a show. This close, she couldn't focus on anything but the minutes ticking down till her assigned time. This was why Papyrus was so nice to have around. He'd come and visit her before her session, distract her until it was time to leave, and monitor her while she worked.

Her room was quiet. She watched the computer terminal which sat silent and dark. It was almost eerie how quickly she'd gotten used to the boisterous A.I.. She wasn't typically very good at conversations, but Papyrus never seemed to mind. His brother (if A.I. could _be_ brothers), Sans, usually managed to steer her onto a topic, keep her going and all the while managed to at least pretend to be interested. 

She hadn't seen either of the A.I. in at least a month and she didn't want to say she was worried, but Papyrus usually showed up at least once a week, even when Sans had better things to do than watch her train. She knew that Papyrus helping her out wasn't exactly standard and he probably had other things he should be working on, but it wasn't exactly against regulations as far as she could tell. In the field, A.I. were expected to work with agents to run the augments on their suits; it made sense for the A.I. to work with her while training.

When her quarterly meeting with the Councillor drew near last month, Alphys knew what the Councillor was going to ask about. Her improved training scores, her accuracy had tripled, and in her last paired exercise she nearly took down-- Which never happened! And she hadn't thought-- She didn't know-- She should have asked Papyrus if--

She startled away from the loud crunch as the soda can crumpled in her fist. The soda leaked, sticky and sweet, over the power armor and on onto the floor. She wrinkled her nose. 

Investigation wasn't her forte. She had a job and it wasn't hunting down two missing A.I. that probably weren't supposed to be talking to her in the first place. This was someone else's problem. It was! But Sans and Papyrus had never gone silent like this and she couldn't stop thinking about how it might be her fault. She had the downtime. Her next deployment wasn't scheduled to take off from the Mother of Invention for another four days - scouting along the border worlds. There was no reason that she couldn't use some of it to figure out what had happened to them. 

She sighed and checked the time again. Fourteen minutes till she had to leave.

* * *

Alphys glanced down the hall, sweat beading on yellow scales and soaking her even in her armor which did it's best to whisk away any moisture that accumulated. Her scales _dripped_ even so. Her helmet was tucked under her arm as she tried to enjoy the chill ship air and keep her breath from a gasping wheeze to a respectable pant. 

She could tell she was going to reek once she was out of her armor. Despite her firm resolution to find the A.I., her day was still filled with training and evaluations and she hadn't had time eat let alone search. Thankfully, her relaxation rotation was coming up. She normally spent it playing video games in the rec room while Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie played in the background, but she had to find the A.I..

Doubts had started creeping in though. Just because she hadn't seen them didn't mean there was anything wrong. She hadn't been written up for talking to the A.I. and her status hadn't changed on the leaderboard. She had poured over her enlistment papers and Freelancer regulations searching for any pertinent rule, and there wasn't any. Other than the admonishment to never run armor augments without an A.I.'s assistance, there was nothing. A surprising lack of minutia for a program that generated so much other paperwork.

Plus, where was she even going to start looking for an A.I.? It's not like they were physically hiding from her. They were in the ship, a part of the ship, free to move and appear wherever holographic projectors were. So, if she wasn't seeing them, it was because they didn't want her to see them. 

Alphys stumbled into someone and jerked back as she realized it was the Director. He staggered but quickly righted himself. Her heart raced but he looked fine, if slightly annoyed. "Oh, Director! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

"Yes, fine. Thank you, Agent Hotland." He started away and she quickly chased after him.

"I was looking for you!" She hadn't been, but this was her chance. She _had_ to take it. If anyone knew what happened to Papyrus, or even Sans, it would be the Director. 

"Can it wait?" the Director asked still moving with barely a pause. His voice was clipped and he didn't glance her way. Alphy's moved quickly to match his longer stride.

"If you're busy, I guess this isn't urgent. But it is important to me and won't take more than a minute, I promise."

He sighed and came to a halt, turning sharply to face her. "Agent Hotland. I am always busy. What do you want?"

"I was just wondering what happened to Papyrus. He was really helping improve my performance in the training sequences, as the Councillor noticed, and it's been a month since he's been able to attend any of my sessions." She cut herself off before she could ramble and get dismissed. She wasn't doing anything wrong by asking after Papyrus, she told herself firmly. The A.I. weren't confidential information even if no one seemed to ever talk about them outside the mission.

The Director stared at her. Silent. She'd never gotten the hang of reading his facial expressions but he didn't look angry. Instead, he just looked hollow as if the blackness of his sockets consumed the light of the hallway. When he looked at her, it was as if her existence barely registered. Then, his eyelights snapped into existence and met her gaze and his smile widened till all of his teeth were bared.

"Follow me," the Director said. 

She bit back her questions as she trailed after the Director. He lead her through the ship past increasingly tight security scans until she was in a part of the ship she'd never seen before. The agents tapped for Project Freelancer were the best of the best and she might not be number one on the leaderboard but she was _determined_. They also had some of the highest security clearances in the galaxy, only slightly lower than the King and Queen themselves. But there were still places they weren't allowed.

The lab the Director led her into was off a long hallway. She tried to stop twitching to look behind her. It felt like there were eyes just staring at her. Of course, the ship's A.I. was monitoring them - passively if not actively - but it was more like she almost expected someone to grab her and demand what was she was doing in this section of the ship. This was R&D. Not where an active field agent belonged. _Especially_ her.

She wasn't surprised that the Director had a personal lab, though she wondered where he possibly found the time to work on anything. He managed reviewing at least half of the missions that the Alpha team got sent on, handling both the initial briefing and debriefing. She knew he was a scientist and worked personally on developing Papyrus and Sans. That was, of course, before he became a the Director.

The lights were blinding against the sterile whiteness of the lab. It looked more like an operating theater in a TV show than the mad scientist lab she only half expected to see. She looked around warily and tried to force herself to take the last step into the lab so that the door could close. She was being so stupid about this. The Director was going to think her behavior was abnormal and order her back for a psych eval. She had just passed her last one, and she did not want to end up back in--

"Are you coming in, Agent Hotland?" the Director asked. She did not jump. She was a trained field agent. She would not be alarmed by an empty laboratory. 

"Sir," she said as she stepped into the room. The door slid closed with just the hiss of a the vacuum seal engaging. She did not feel trapped.

She slowly edged into the room following the Director towards the back of it where large opaque cases that looked like a coffin that she recognized from human dramas she used to watch. It was black and drew the eye in the nearly empty room, about ten and a half feet long and two feet tall. 

The Director paused looking down at the case with a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite read. He stood there watching the it. There wasn't anything remarkable about it, as far as she could tell, except the fact that it existed at all. 

The box was plain and unmarked, though she could see the slightly recessed panel, which would trigger holographic controls that must be integrated into the case. Determining what the case was or what it could possibly do was impossible without more information but the Director must have brought her here for a reason. 

"Director...?" Alphys didn't want to touch the Director's shoulder to get his attention but she couldn't just stand here. It was silent without even the ever present hum of engines. Her ears nearly hurt with the emptiness.

The Director's hand clenched, his white knuckle bones gleaming sharply as they stretched the magic holding him together nearly into visibility as he made a fist. He turned sharply to face her.

"Agent Hotland, or I should say Dr. Alphys."

Her eyes flew away from the case to meet his empty gaze. Of course he knew, but-- why-- She glanced down at her hands where armor creeked. _Of course_ , the Director knew. They knew her background before recruiting her. It was practically why she had been recruited. 

"I, uh, thought we weren't supposed to go by those names any more," she mumbled. 

"You aren't," the Director said. "That doesn't mean your previous accomplishments are erased because you've joined our organization. As much as it pains me to admit it, I would like ask a consultation."

"I'm not sure I know what to say..."

The Director's eye sockets narrowed. "Agent Hotland. The job you agreed to, when we recruited you, was to do whatever I needed. I seem to recall that you had no problem with the terms when signing up for service then. Are you having second thoughts now? Because of this? After all this time?" He gestured at the case sharply, his hand nearly hitting it.

She didn't flinch but it was a near thing. "N-No! That's not what I--"

"Good. I'm glad that's settled." He placed a palm on the recessed panel and a data stream poured onto the holomonitor off to the side. She watched it, trying to glean what in the galaxy it could be. Something to do with robotics, she could only assume, otherwise why would The Director be bringing _her_ into his personal project? But he knew that she failed out of her academic career. 'Failed' being a relatively minor description. 

That was on record long before her recruitment.

As the boot-up ended, The Director keyed the scripts to open the case and there was a hiss as the seal was released. Her eyes widened involuntarily as she saw the skeletal figure within. She squinted at the it. It looked... almost familiar. As much as some half-formed mangled body could. She took a sharp breath as she realized. "Is that-- Are you making Papyrus a body? Is that why he's been missing?"

The Director smiled, a pleased flush filling his cheek bones. "He can't very well 'go missing,' Agent. He's a part of the ship as much as the navigation system is. But yes, I am creating a body. I don't want to involve anyone else at this point. Or, at least, I want to keep this project confidential until we see some results. But you've already met the frag-- met Papyrus. With your previous experience in robotics, you are just the spare hand I need."

"Papyrus is here?" She half expected his avatar to pop out. 

The Director shook his head. "No, it's been temporarily pulled from the ship's systems while I work on this body."

"What? Really? Why?"

"I need some time to prep it for a physical body. I was hoping that the body would be ready by now. However, there's been a few set backs and I don't have the time to devote to fixing them. I have a ship to run, missions to direct, and I cannot devote all of my time to this. This is where you are going to come in."

"Director, I don't know--"

"I am pulling you from all active missions. Temporarily."

"What!" Alphys found herself practically screeching as her voice rose to a squeak. "You can't do that."

The Director looked down at her for a second. Two. Alphys felt the hot rush of magic rising up her shoulders and neck. "As I was saying, you will be pulled from active missions. Papyrus is classified and you will not to be speak of it to anyone. If someone inquires about your current status, you will direct them to me or the Counselor. We are the _only_ two monsters that you should speak of this to. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Director." She past him trying to ignore the fierce burn of the blush that was surly lighting up her face. 

"Agent Hotland, I will be watching you." The Director's fierce scowl melted away and he laid a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't a punishment. If I didn't think that this project was absolutely essential, then I wouldn't be prioritizing it. I know you had some... problems last time you were working independently. I will be here. You won't be facing the same challenges. You won't be alone."

"It wasn't the project that was challenging," she objected. "Well, it was, but I enjoyed that part. Somewhere between the absurd deadlines the department was setting and the lack of oversight for _any_ projects--"

"I will personally be monitoring and working with you on this project."

"They court martial me! The Department of Monster Safety put me in jail! I was required to sign contract after contract swearing to never do _something exactly like this_! I'm sorry, Director. I'm honored that you thought I could--"

"They court martialed Dr. Alphys. However, Agent Hotland is not the same person," The Director said. His voice was blank and empty. Despite being armored, despite being twice his weight class, despite having been on combat mission after combat mission while the Director stayed on the MOI - there was something in her that wanted to curl up at that voice. Lock herself in her room and melt away the security panel off so no one could get in. 

Even as she felt her throat tightening with anxiety, she pushed through it. Forced herself to speak even if her voice cracked and squeaked. She couldn't let this happen again. "They're both me! I d-don't-- d-d-don't-- I don't know how I feel about this."

"Why don't you go back to your quarters and think about this. This isn't an offer, you understand, Agent Hotland. This is an order. Project Freelancer was the one who assisted you while you were rotting away when not a single soul cared. We allowed you to serve monster-kind again. I don't want to see you court martialed a second time."

She stared at him, but he didn't give away anything. The room was silent without even the hiss of recirculated air. Her eyes drifted back to the robotic frame. Slowly she said, "I will do that. Thank you, Director."

She couldn't go back to jail. She wasn't going to sit in front of that board of generals watching her and judging her and finding her lacking. The Director _had_ given her a second chance to do what was right. But that could be taken away just as easily. 

He knew what he was doing. She trusted him enough to sign up and direct her deployments where she could die at any time. She should trust him enough to just... work in a lab, right?

The Director placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, that was a little over the top. Of course, you won't be court martialed, but this is a military organization. You knew that signing up. If you disobey my orders..." The Director shook his head. "I'll send the Councillor to speak with you. I think the she will be able to help you reach the right decision."

Alphys jerked her head up and down, throat completely locked up. 

The Director nodded to himself. He smiled down at her. "I'm sure you have things to do so I'll speak to you again about this tomorrow. I'm glad you stopped me."

"Sir." 

Alphys felt her gaze being drawn away from the Director's face back to the half assembled robot. Was she really going to do this? Papyrus looked so... strange like this. He'd always seemed so exuberant and loud with everything he did, but this _thing_ was quiet. Still. Hollow. The more she stared at it, the less it looked like Papyrus at all. Empty holes where eyes should be. A jaw that was gaping open unnaturally wide to accommodate the mess of wires protruding from it and down it's chest. 

It's frame was enormous and dwarfed even the Director who towered over her. Thick bundles of wires came out of the femur and humerus connecting to the mess vomited from the thing's jaw. The skull was only half formed with a thick blocks of circuitry sticking out from the top of it. Oil pooled at where it rested in the case like it was leaking. Smears of grease smudged the otherwise porcelain white of the outer casing of it's bones.

"Alphys," the Director said. He put his hand on her shoulder and she allowed herself to be turned, to face him and tear her eyes away from the half built thing. The Director was still smiling softly. "Please leave, Agent Hotland. That will be all. For now."

"Right! Sorry, sir." Alphys backed up quickly, not actually turning around until she bumped into a lab table making the equipment on it rattle. She winced and fled the lab back to the relative safety of her room. Her breathing didn't start slow until she locked the door, slid down it's length, and her head bumped painfully against her knees.


End file.
